In the world of smartphones, there’s an exclusive club of carriers in the US, much like the exclusive stable of actors who have played James Bond on the silver screen.
On Tuesday, Sprint earned its “license to thrill” by welcoming the iPhone into the Sprint family.
Beginning October 14th, when Apple’s iPhone 4S goes on sale, Sprint will join AT&T and Verizon as the only US carriers to offer the iPhone.
Despite what would otherwise seem to be positive news for both companies, shares of Apple and Sprint fell sharply after the announcement of the iPhone 4S.
CNBC speculates that investors were looking “to be blown away by some amazing new surprise.” When they weren’t, selling pressure set in.
“It’s been 16 months and all you’ve got is an A5 processor in the existing iPhone 4,” Wall Street analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Partners tells CNBC.
Joining Apple in the sell-off was Sprint, although the carrier has since bounced off its worst levels.
Sprint saw a 10% dive in its stock on Monday following reports that the carrier would probably lose money on its iPhone gamble until at least 2014.
“This is a huge gamble for Sprint and people are justifiably worried that they won’t be able to make any money doing it,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Chris King says. “It’s not a company that’s in great financial shape right now.”
